Imani Sippio, and her mother Chasity Phillips in Abita Springs, La., on June 17th, 2015. In 2002, Phillips was diagnosed with incurable bone cancer in her chest; despite being terminally ill, she has managed to live a rich, full life with pain management. "There was nothing I wasn't willing to do to have one more day with my child," said Phillips of her diagnosis. Bryan TarnowskiMcClatchy

Imani Sippio, and her mother Chasity Phillips in Abita Springs, La., on June 17th, 2015. In 2002, Phillips was diagnosed with incurable bone cancer in her chest; despite being terminally ill, she has managed to live a rich, full life with pain management. "There was nothing I wasn't willing to do to have one more day with my child," said Phillips of her diagnosis. Bryan TarnowskiMcClatchy

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“There’s a certain freedom that comes with dying,” she said. “You really don’t have to deal with your annoying cousin. You really don’t have to go on that family trip. You can eat ice cream for breakfast.”

Phillips’ prognosis was not unlike Brittany Maynard’s. But Maynard chose physician-assisted suicide after doctors diagnosed her with terminal brain cancer on Jan. 1, 2014. Before she died at age 29, less than a year later – on November 1, 2014 – Maynard had become a prominent advocate for the “death with dignity” movement, which has triggered legislation in 25 states.

She was one of 1,327 people who took advantage of Oregon’s 1997 Death with Dignity Act, the oldest such law in the country, by obtaining life-ending medicine. Maynard was also one of 859 people who chose to use it.

There’s a certain freedom that comes with dying...You can eat ice cream for breakfast.

Chasity Phillips, terminally diagnosed with cancer

Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Death with Dignity National Center, said that those in favor of death with dignity laws support the merits of palliative care. The center has not found evidence of a “slippery slope” argument, which claims that legalizing physician-assisted suicide will lead to more extreme types of end-of-life care, including euthanasia.

Disability advocates, however, have questioned whether physician-assisted suicide is an issue that can, and should, be legislated at all.

“All of us are pretty vulnerable,” said Phillips, who additionally suffers from lupus and qualifies as a disabled person.

According to the Americans with Disability Act, a disabled person is anyone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

“The risk of mistake and coercion and abuse are really too great,” said Diane Coleman, founder and CEO of Not Dead Yet, an advocacy group that informs and lobbies on behalf of disabled populations.

Five states allow physician-assisted suicide: Oregon, Washington and Vermont have legislation in place, while Montana and New Mexico established legality through the state Supreme Court. Twenty-six states and Washington, D.C., are considering or have considered legislation this year, and Kansas and Missouri are among the 12 states considering death with dignity legislation for the first time.

Coleman established Not Dead Yet in 1996 to combat the views of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, known in the media as “Dr. Death” for his active support for a terminal patient’s right to die.

Earlier this year, they lobbied against a death with dignity bill under consideration in the Colorado state legislature. The bill was rejected.

The laws stipulate that only a capable adult with a terminal illness, meaning one that will lead to death within six months of diagnosis, may receive a life-ending prescription. The patient must make both a written and oral request in the presence of two witnesses. Another oral request must follow at least 15 days later.

But where the safeguards stop the danger begins, according to the disability groups. None of the laws or rulings include provisions about when, where or how patients should ingest the life-ending medicine once prescribed.

There have not been any reports of coercion, of vulnerable people being pressed into using the (physician-assisted suicide) laws.

Peg Sandeen, executive director of the Death with Dignity National Center

According to Oregon’s review of the law, the foremost reasons for physician-assisted suicide are loss of autonomy, decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable and loss of dignity. Most advocacy groups cite unendurable pain as the main motivation for pursuing legislation.

To Not Dead Yet and the DREDF, this amounts to fear of disability rather than fear of painful death or lessened quality of life.

The laws have a provision that bars physicians from prescribing a life-ending prescription to a disabled person simply because the person is disabled. But opponents stipulate that the danger does not come from those with disabilities who might feel pressure to end their lives, but those without disabilities who fear becoming disabled or having a poorer quality of life.

Golden, who uses a wheelchair, spoke from experience about the doubts she initially encountered.

“At the beginning, I felt that the injury was unbearable,” she said. “A year later, it hit me: There was no change in my quality of life.”

Phillips said the laws discourage people from finding comfort in their condition.

“I’m able to surround myself with people like me,” said Phillips, who worries that many terminal patients do not know about support groups and advanced palliative care. “These aren’t things that people are told exist. Doctors often don’t know. They value my life as it is.”